Ephemeral
by princess-snow510
Summary: They had long since understood she was ephemeral and they hated her for it. Such a wicked and wild thing, each time she left she took a piece of their hearts and sanity with her... Marauders x Bonnie Bennett
1. 00 - Of Rituals and Weddings

_No one wearing a crown comes in the name of peace..._

* * *

_We function in a pack mentality, the beasts within us is sleeping, not dead_...

* * *

Twas the dawn of Ostara and all through the forest not a creature dared sleeping, as great magic was stirring…

She was not sure who would speak first but she knew who would be speaking last, after all the seam was supposed to be the one with the most magical power to tie off the ritual...

"We come here freely and without reservation to give ourselves to you and so that we may join your life and ours. We vow to listen, to hear, and to always consider your feelings and thoughts as we travel together on this journey." Cognac colored eyes that bled gold clashed with viridian.

She could confess that she was only partially shocked that he would choose to be the stone...but then again given his circumstances he was irrefutably physically the strongest of the five of them. Who better than him to be the stone, the one that initiates, the one that grounds them all?

She could honestly admit that she was partially to blame for the chaos that was bound to explode the minute these idiots stopped speaking, but she would swear with even her last dying breath that she had never intended it to go this far…never intended that they would go this far just to keep her...she should have known better...still she knew she was going to cherish the chaos like a tall glass of water to a muggle that survived the world's largest desert.

Hazel eyes ringed in the deep set emerald draw in her gaze next. "To make you happy, to make you laugh, and to always be there for you. To love, honor, and cherish you, forsaking all others that are not of our own creation as long as we both shall live and even into the next life."

And now she was standing before them in thin but a gorgeous backless black dress that was made from the richest silks, barefoot with a crown of thorned red and white roses bound in primrose and red poppies, a bouquet in her hands a mix of witch-hazel and hellebore…

They stood before her, dressed like plated offerings...who was she to refuse such a gift?

She could not stop the shiver that trickled down her spine as she took in the words that fell from his lips even as her gaze was pulled toward glittering silver.

"We vow to always protect you from harm, to stand with you against your troubles, and look to you when we need protection. To love you when the sun shines, when the rain falls, in sickness, and in health. When you look at this ring, think of us and remember that we love you always."

In a ring of blood runes and sigils the only thing that she could do is prepare herself for the backlash of their actions.

The runes glowed brighter and the sigils seemed to inhale all the magic in the air around them...

"We take thee to be our wife and promise to look into your eyes just like we do now, with love and soulful amazement. We know you. We know you as our love who has always been and will always be. We name you our wife and cannot wait to continue our eternal loving journey."

Her eyes finally met with cerulean jewel toned eyes and the same boyish smile as he spoke. She wished she could glare at him, if she was being quite honest his damnable ooey gooey blue eyes had gotten her into this bloody mess in the first place.

But this was true madness of the best kind. The kind that she loved and craved, truly this she had decided would be some of her best work yet.

Because there was no one here to save them, no one here to stop them and make them question their choices 'who in their right mind got married at 13?' No one here to make them question her motives...No, it was no one but her and she would never let them backslide...no not after showing such moxie, such promise...

Instead with the magic weighing so heavily on each of them she said grinned widely, her gaze changing from each male, her pupils sharpening as her irises glowed peridot and her sclera faded to obsidian...

She spoke. "I come here freely and without reservation to give myself to you and so that we may join your lives and mine. I vow that you all shall be the most important people in my life, above all others except for those of our own creation. All our pleasure and all our pain, I will rejoice in and endure, and share with you - together as one. I invite you to take all of me and share all I have to offer amongst yourselves. I know you. I know you as my loves who has always been and will always be. I name you as my husband's and cannot wait to continue our eternal loving journey."

The magic that had been being collected, immediately struck out in a ripple of waves.

She watched as they were all brought to their knees, some of their ceremonial robes spilling open flashing her glimpses of parts of them that would make them flush were they not silently withering on the ground.

She watched calmly as magic slithers over their skin and burned through their cores.

A wicked smile curling onto her lips as golden ink tattoos stretched across each of their bodies: neck, chest, shoulders, hip.

She sauntered over to them calmly waiting as they began to catch their breaths before giving them what they would surely consider bad news...

* * *

**This is a Harry Potter x Vampire Diaries Crossover.**

**Takes place in Marauders Era.**

**Creature - Bonnie Bennett**

**Morally Ambiguous - ****Marauders**

**Bonnie Bennett x Marauders**

**WARNING: This story will have some dark and crackish moments.**

**This is a concept that has been burning my mind and ****I've just now decided to upload this even though I really should be working on the others *sighs***

* * *

**Additional notes for this chapter:**

**EDITED: 11.14.2020**

**Rose** [Red and White]

Symbolize: Unity

**Primrose**

Symbolize: Eternal love

**Poppy** [Red]

Symbolize: Pleasure, sacrifice, remembrance

**Witch-Hazel**

Symbolize: A spell had been cast.

**Hellebore **(Helleborus)

Symbolize: Scandal and calumny.

This very poisonous flower can be found in the earlier months of spring. It has very leathery, dark green leaves that surround the face.


	2. 01 - Of Steel and Blood I

_Because while it was true the the mouse was wise...the cat was wiser..._

* * *

_She holds him so very close because she **knows** that he **will** be taken from her..._

* * *

"Where are you going petite souris?"

The young boy no older than eleven with big glossy blue eyes that begrudgingly had dark rings under them and curly dirty blond hair looked back to his mother. "Just my morning walk is all, mère."

The french woman smiled at her son, opening her arms wide to which he gave a soft smile quickly going to embrace her. She holds him tightly like each time will be their last, her nose taking in his scent; coriander and thyme...she never wants to let him go...

Her beloved son who was only months from attending Hogwarts and making twelve. He had such a vibrant ambition...even if that ambition involved steadily lying to her face.

She was a battle worn woman even if she didn't resemble as such; with her doll-like frame...and as such had long since been made aware of their little visitor who had taken to appearing in the woods of their property at the break of dawn to flee from her son, knowing that he would chase after her.

Noémie Aurelie Pettigrew was a noble lady made from steel and blood. The oldest and only daughter to one Lord Laurent of the ancient and noble house of Pettigrew that resided in France and subsequently was no fool...she knew of everything that her son got into even if he didn't think she knew.

She watched him, guided him to the right sources but did not dare to outright demand him to stop his pursuit of their ill-fated guest.

Her mother and father had long since taught her to pay homage to the creatures of the ether...she knew what happened to those who disrespected the magical creatures that dwelled within the dark and the spaces inbetween…

The fae came every dawn of every spring without failure since her beloved had turned nine. Noémie cried tears of heartache every daybreak as she watched her son leave off on his quest and cried tears of joy when he returned to her hours after all body parts attached if not slightly covered in minor cuts and bruises.

Noémie cried because she knew the fae wanted something from her beloved son and Noémie could only hope and pray that it wasn't to spirit him away because if it was, she was truly without the power needed to stop it from happening.

"Still trying to catch her, your little fleur fae?" She asks though she had long since surmised that this particular fae was not so simple.

He tensed at her words backing away from her warm embrace. She watches him, emotions flashing over his face before he comes to a decision.

She waits patiently and knows that when his eyes, a perfect reflection of her own, meet hers once more he will be truthful; after all he now knows that she already knew what he has been doing there was no point in lying any longer.

"Oui." He says and she thinks that while her beloved has much ambition, his poker face is lacking. Not for the first time she mourns the loss of her familial ties...she mourns the loss of her beloved son being able to flourish under lights that glitter like diamonds and palace walls lined in ivory and gold. She would not see her son coated in the male version of her old school uniform; a light blue button up classic collared shirt under a light blue blazer with a white trimming on the edges, a dark blue necktie, light blue pants and dark blue and grey shoes.

She does not allow the grimace that wants to overtake her face the privilege.

She would not be able to pass on to her son her own emblems from Ombrelune, that was something she could accept. Her son while had ambition and cunning was not at all a logical thinker, he was much more emotionally drivin and more prone to hands on activities that the Bellefeuille house would have surely been the one he would call home.

But her wonderful son not even being able to experience the chance? Being blatantly denied the chance for reasons that he had no control over? That was a bitter potion that she still had trouble swallowing. The den of snakes in that drafty old fortress that those _rosbif_ call a castle would not suit him well, they'd eat him alive…

Blinking away those thoughts...her son was intelligent and he would do well to surround himself with those of a like mind. The face of a man she had not thought about in years flashed through her mind and for once the reminder of the man did not rile her ire but gave her some stratification. He had attended the castle as had found himself placed with a nest high up within a tower and smiled... there was still hope that she would witness her son decked in shades of blue even if it was not she favored shade...

"Do you not learn your lesson last time, or shall I prepare for when you return to me all wet from the river?" She says this evenly but inside she wishes to scream at him. The river incident was not to be taken lightly, Peter had nearly drowned and all he did was laugh because he said the little fae had saved him but also complimented him.

When she performed an unauthorized legilimens while her son slept the day away, because you know, nearly drowning zaps the energy from you, imagine that? She ended up throwing up her lunch.

While the little fae had indeed saved his life it was merely because to her 'his lips looked much nicer to her when they weren't **blue**…'

He pouted. "I almost had her last time, but she tricked me instead. This time I just won't get so close to the river, she is a very clever creature..."

Her blue eyes took in her son, he was never as determined as he was unless he was sword fighting or trying to capture this mischievous little fae. She did not sense the creature, but that did not mean much, still he was of her flesh and blood and felt the need to warn him. "The fae do not like to be captured, would you dare to clip a bird of their wings?"

He is horrified and she is both proud and pained. Her son is no killer, and yet their world is filled with beings that would prey on such ignorant innocence. "No, I could never be so cruel."

"The same is for the fae, they value their freedom as much as the birds that soar in the skies." Her eyes were drawn to the woods before looking back at her son. She licked her lips. "Perhaps my petite souris...perhaps it would be best to abandon this quest."

His pout deepened. "But she's so pretty…I don't want her to let her leave me..."

She frowned, tilting his head so that he may look upon her and take her words carefully. "Tread carefully petite souris, the gods loved the birds and so they built the trees, man loved the birds and built cages..."

_Dark and wild things cannot be caged_ She screams within her mind.

She watched his eyes as he absorbed her words of warning, swallowing thickly before giving in with a nod his eye no longer staring at her own. "I understand mother; but I don't think I can stop...I don't want to stop..."

"_**Pierre**_." His native name is a plea on her tongue. "_Mon chéri_, just come back to sleep."

_And please, stop this_ She wordlessly begs him.

She watched her heart breaking as her son's eyes gained that far off look as he stares into the woods undoubtedly seeing things she could not. Oh how she feared the things his young eyes saw, the most horrible things are true works of beauty.

"I hear her voice in my dreams at night, it is hard to hear but I always know when dawn approaches because I can understand her clearer. She beckons me to come to her...speaks of the secrets carried on the breezes at dawn...Forgive me mère, I cannot go back to sleep."

She nodded, releasing him with a strained smile. "I see, well then go on, it is bad form to keep a lady waiting."

She cries as he disappears into the woods because she did not have to tell him twice.

**...**

The sky was a billion pure eyes of light and the grass green underfoot, it was as if night and day had become one beautiful moment.

Dawn had come.

**...**

"Pierre~" His name seemed to echo around the forest, the soft tinkling of her voice. "Pierre where are you?"

"I am here...I am here!" He called as he ran through the woods.

"Pierre…why do you hide yourself from me?"

"I would never hide! I am here, I have come, wait for me!" He shouted, running faster.

"Pierre~" He pushes himself trying to track down where her voice echoes from...

He stopped just before he stumbled into what appeared to be a meadow.

_Curious..._ He couldn't help but think his eyes taking in all the flowers and mushrooms that bloomed into a wide circle. He had spent his life in the woods from a young age. He knew these woods and yet he could not remember ever coming across this little slice of heaven.

He edged closer before pausing, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on edge. The magic in the area seemed to permeate the very air.

He took another step back analyzing the mushrooms and flowers with even more critical eyes before abruptly backing away.

He knew what this was...knew of the danger that would befall him if he even dared to _willingly_ proceed without caution.

"Pierre~" His head snapped towards the voice and there he found her.

In the middle of the circle she stood her feet bare but despite that never covered in dirt. She wore a long sleeved strapless dress that was made from acromantula silk, griffin feathers as well as viscaria and zantedeschia petals. Her curly hair pulled into a hazardous bun that was entangled with seemingly harmless wild flowers like thistles but his expert eyes caught the sight of the nightshade that sat so innocently behind her elfin ears. Her viridian eyes stared back at him vacuous expression, but still he beamed at her.

"Bonnie...what are you doing all the way over there?"

She was before him in an instant. He took a step back because even after all this time he was still unused to just how fast she could move.

"Peter, why do you look so frightened? Is it that you are frightened of me?" She said hollowly and so unlike how she had called him moments before.

He frowned. "No, I am not frightened of you." His eyes darted to the distance from the ring and where he actually stood, he was a good distance away but still…

"Pierre~" She cooed drawing his eyes she leaned into him throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him close to her. "Won't you share a dance with me?"

He flushed as he always did at her lack of social awareness. Bonnie had no understanding of personal space or boundaries.

"Yes, but if we dance might we do so properly."

She cocked her head to the side as he pulled back, putting the appropriate amount of distance between a man and woman before holding out his hand for her to take.

"The way your muggles do?"

He tensed but began to dance that was taught to him by his mother. All wizards of proper standing knew how to waltz. "No. The way _wizards_ do. I am a wizard."

She shrugged as she allowed him to lead her into the dance, sweeping her across the woods... "Muggle. Wizard. I see no difference."

Her full cupid bow shaped lips curled into a mischievous smirk even as his frown deepened his grip on her waist unconsciously tightening.

"There is a difference." He said before shaking his hand. "We should not speak of such things, they are of bad taste."

Yet she would not be swayed. "Is there truly?"

"Yes."

"Tell me how so are you different? If I were to sever your arm from your shoulder would you not bleed the same red as your muggles? If I were to wrap my hands around your throat and squeeze, would you not gasp desperately for the same breath that your muggles inhale? Will your body not rot in the earth's richen soil-" She pauses only when he abruptly pulls away with a snarl.

He takes no note of how her lip twitches only at how she stares at him through her eyelashes. "Pierre? Why have we stopped dancing? Are you unhappy with me now?"

His breathing is heavy and his ego is wounded from her harsh words, yet he willfully believes that she doesn't understand. Convinces himself of this reasoning. He believes she has the understanding of a child, and as such she possesses a child's blunt honesty.

"While your observations in those particular instances might be correct," This is said with gritted teeth and twitching eyebrows.

"Wizards are different from muggles. We have magic and thus are magical beings, muggles do not and are not. Wizards are better than muggles, this is fact." He says after collecting himself.

"So then what of your muggles that give birth to your witches and wizards?" She asked, staring at him with wide eyes, her knees pulled to her chest as she floated in front of him...

He could feel his composure starting to crack, he stared at her cerulean eyes darkening in ire. "Muggles and Muggle-borns are weak and inferior, treacherous and fickle creatures."

She was immensely amused by his rage. "And why do you think that?"

"Muggle-borns are magically weak, have no decorum and can claim no wizarding heritage, therefore they are as low as Muggles themselves as well as they would sooner abandon you than help you. If they can so easily abandon their own offspring it says a lot about who or what they are!"

She didn't need to goad him further as the bitter words that marinated his heart spewed from his lips.

"You cannot call him a man if he has abandoned his seed! He is a coward and in debt to the universe!" He snapped his eyes bright in his feverish rage.

She watched him as a cat does a mouse, as he seemed to reel back at his own dark confession. His body trembled and he closed his eyes and began to even his breathing. When he felt that he had sorted himself his eyes opened, glacier blue eyes staring back at her.

"Muggles and the muggle-borns they birth are spineless creatures having no honor or loyalty, that is all."

Her eyes half lid as she gives a mocking nod towards him along with an innocent smile as her feet touch the ground once more. "Since you say so Pierre..."

She turned away from him taking ten steps in front of her before pausing and looking over her shoulder. "I've enjoyed my time with you immensely Pierre. Have you?"

He frowned a feeling of foreboding in the air. "Of course I have, why would you have to ask?"

"This dawn is to be the last." She says abruptly and he can feel his heart clench.

_The last... the last... she wants to **leave**?_ The words loop in his mind and all he can sputter is. "What?"

She takes another step and he takes two.

_She wants to leave him too, he'll be left behind... he can not be left behind -not again._

"Bonnie, wait please..." His voice is desperate, frenzied, still she does not stop but neither does he.

"I must return to my home."

"Bonnie!" He calls and tries to catch her before she steps into the ring that pulses with magic. He doesn't.

"Please," He begs as she turns to face him from inside of the ring. "Please don't leave, I'll do anything."

In her eyes lies something dangerously gluttonous. "_**Anything?**_" She croons.

He swallows the saliva even as she seems to salivate at his offer. "What can I do to make you stay here with me?"

"Nothing." She states vacuously before her eyes flicker and a wicked grin stretches across her lips. "Although, I will not stop you if you _choose_ to come with me."

He trembles with a healthy dose of fear as his eyes glance down at the fae ring that his boots seem to toe dangerously.

He knew what happened to those that accidentally walked into a fae ring, for intruding so rudely upon them those unfavorable souls would be forced to dance around the ring until they died of exhaustion or madness, however for those that were to willingly step into a fae ring the circumstances were quite different he would be transported to the fae realm with no assurance that he would be able to leave... and that wasn't even scraping the top of the iceberg if he decided to fall in with the fae...

"That sounds nice, but wizards aren't meant to live in the fae realm." He says instead.

"I would not let any other kill you." She says with a pout.

"That's comforting." He said although he could see that she neither promised that he would not get hurt, fatally injured or die at all.

She grinned with a nod. "So will you join me."

"M-my mother needs me here..." He said politely, trying to refuse her offer.

She tilts her head to the side, her eyes calculating. "So if your mother no longer needed you, would you have nothing holding you here?"

He didn't like the sound of that, didn't want her to get the wrong idea. "No you've got it all wrong, I also start Hogwarts soon. I will learn about magic there."

She narrowed her eyes. "You do not need wizards magic, Fae magic has a far superior history to be learned."

"Yes" He said quickly. "Certainly, but I am a wizard, and so I do need to learn wizarding magic or else how would I protect myself?"

"I will teach you." She growled in agitation and Pierre paused.

"Teach me?" He said curiously. "What do you mean?"

She was contemplative as she stared into his blue eyes before she spoke. "There is a way. I can teach you...but this knowledge must be earned, all magic comes with a price."

"What would be the price?" He can't help but ask.

Her eyes glitter. "I could teach you Fae magic, but in return you would have to participate in our games, and perform for my court."

He nearly blanched. "You want _me_ to participate in _fae court_ games?!"

She grins and her smile while beautiful is full of glimmering fangs. "Doesn't that sound fun? Besides it's not like you would be the first wizard to play."

_Hilarious, if he didn't value his bloody life._ "Bonnie...witches and wizards have died in those games." Is what he said instead.

"_Weak_ witches and wizards." She blinked at his disapproving look. "How dare you give me such a look when your people participate in a tournament that gives the winner only money, fame and glory."

"The Triwizard tournament has been disbanded because of all the deaths that happened in it." He argued.

Her frustration was apparent. "Ungrateful mortal, I said I would teach you, and you yourself don't want to die- so how would you allow yourself to lose? You are smart and entertaining about how you play the game, your victory is guaranteed and I return you back to this place you love so much."

Still he needed more from her. "Bonnie I have to attend Hogwarts. I already have my letter, books and robes, they are expecting me. My attendance is non negotiable. I cannot just leave with you to the fae realm with no assurance that I will not make it back, time works differently there."

She remained silent and he nodded taking that as a win for himself before his eyes brightened as he gained an idea that would work well in his favor. "What if you taught me here?"

Her eyes bore into his own, and he would never admit it out loud that with how heavy her gaze was now, made him frightfully uncomfortable.

"Yes, you can teach me fae magic here without going to the fae realm, I can learn it when I'm not in Hogwarts..."

"...I suppose."

Taking that as another win for himself he boldly asked "How often are these games played anyway?"

"As often as we like." She said impassively before casually admitting. "But in your wizarding time? Twice a year, during the winter solstice and the summer solstice."

"Then what-" He stopped speaking when she held up her hand to silence him.

"I grow tired of your questions and I'll only answer but one more. It would be in your best interest to wait until I offer my deal before asking it."

He nodded his head and she took a moment to stare at him, seemingly gauging his worth before speaking.

"I will teach you fae magic here," Her nose turned up. "In _this_ realm."

His sigh was short lived as he caught her otherworldly gaze as she continued speaking. "But, when you are trained enough to play the games you _will_ compete for _my_ court and if you are not finished training, you _will_ compete in any missed games for _my_ court. That is my offer. Do we have a deal?"

He frowned thinking of her words, it didn't seem that bad but just to cover his bases he decided to ask his final question. "How long would it take me to master fae magic?"

"Enough to survive in the court games?" Her eyes turned up thoughtfully looking at the sky before glancing at him, he should have been unnerved by that triumphant look in her eyes. "Approximately six months in the fae realm, at least as long as you do as I say."

Pushing aside the red flags that flared in the back of his mind he thought on it. Six months? That wasn't bad. And if the games only happened twice within a year it was very likely that he would only have to endure it once at the most twice. He weighed his options. She already promised that she wouldn't let another kill him but would she be able to offer that same protection when he was participating in the games? Surely not, but then she did say that she would be training him so surely his victory was assured like she said. And if that truly was the case not only would he know wizarding magic, he would have fae magic in his arsenal as well...

In his mind flashed the image of her grinning like the cat swallowed the canary, there was something he was missing but before he could think of it more her voice and close proximity brought him out of his mind.

"Do we have a deal?" She stated again before holding out her hand.

He quickly made up his mind, learning elusive fae magic was not something that he was willing to let slip by. He shook her hand. "Yes."

"Excellent." She cooed even as she backed into the fae circle. "Such a brave but foolish little mouse to make a nest in a cat's ear..."

He stared at her in horror as she disappeared with parting words.

"Be prepared for when I return, you have much to learn and such little time. As you stated before, time works differently in the fae realm, six months there are easily two years here and each court game has three rounds."

She disappeared with laughter on her lips as a curse left his own.

He had been tricked by her again...

...

Noémie cried tears of joy when her son returned to her hours later. He had stayed out much longer than any other day and she had held a great fear in her heart that the fae had finally spirited her beloved son away.

The joy she felt for having him back was half lived when he confessed to her the truth.

Now every daybreak as she watched her son leave off on his quest not to chase after the fae but to grow stronger and more powerful in the hopes to survive in games that wizards were not meant to survive. She sat by the window and cried tears of mourning. When she looked upon him she could not see her beloved son, only a dead man with borrowed time.

The fae, she thinks would have been less cruel if she would have just spirited him away…

* * *

**EDITED: 11.14.2020**

**OC's**

**Noémie Aurelie Pettigrew **

The oldest and only daughter to one Lord Pettigrew

**Lord Laurent Pettigrew**

Patriarch of the ancient and noble house of Pettigrew that resides in France

Why? Because I feel like Peter's character wasn't given the attention he needed.

Comments?

Thanks for the follows and favorites, you guys rock~

* * *

**Petite souris** \- Little Mouse

**Mon chéri** \- My darling

**Coriander**

symbolize: Hidden worth

**Thyme**

symbolize: Courage, strength

**Calla lily **(Zantedeschia)

symbolize: charm and passion.

Also called the "Black Star," this darker version of the commonly-white flower is a deep purple that is almost black to the human eye.

**Viscaria**

Symbolize: an invitation to dance

**Thistle**

Symbolize: Nobility, warning

**Nightshade **

Symbolize: Deception, danger, and death.


	3. 02- Fade to Black I

_"Will you walk into my parlor?" said the spider to the fly._

* * *

_"There is no reason to venture out there, my dears. Monsters dwell there, lurking in the darkness. Little devils conceal themselves from their malicious intent. You my darlings are born with tragedy in your blood and they wait for you. They will take you if you let them."_

* * *

"Cas?" A young girl with fair skin and curly hair the color of raven wings ran after her brother who beseeched her to follow him quickly as he chased after another…

They are nine years old and they know this forest better than their own ancestral home.

"Alula hurry, hurry!" Her brother's voice echoed as he laughed, they continued to get deeper into the dark forest that surrounded the unplottable land of their ancestral home, that was too far from their grasp, not that they cared any longer.

Three times before now their father has dressed them in their best robes, bringing them out here to this dark and mystical place, further from the estate each time before quickly apparating away.

**...**

"Tradition." Is what their father tells them the first time they make it back by the morning. His grey eyes are unyielding and unrepentant as he looks over their haggard appearance. Their faces are red and their eyes are puffy from the hours of crying.

Trying to survive in a forest on your own is no easy feat especially at the age of six.

Their clothes are torn, they are covered from head to toe with dirt, grime and sweat. Castor's left arm hangs at an unnatural angle and yet he still has the strength to help her stand and her left ankle is three times the size of her right. They are both covered in an array of scratches and bruises and yet he only warns them once that they must always bring pride to the house of Black without failure. They are dismissed for the day, house elves immediately flocking to their sides is a chaotic formation.

Their mother tells them it is 'Training' when they make their way back the evening of the second time. They are still covered head to toe in dirt and grime. They are still painted with scratches and bruises but this time Castor has not dislocated his shoulder, trying to cushion her fall from a tree that would have cracked her skull like an egg...this time her ankle is not fractured from moving her brother out of the way from fall that would had speared him.

They are only seven. Their face is less red, their eyes are less puffy…but they have yet to fully give up hope. They beseech their mother with their gaze. Their father has clearly gone round the twist, and while they might have survived this horror that doesn't mean that they will be lucky enough to survive it again. They plead with her, she is their only hope.

Her doe brown eyes hold an unspoken pain, her aura radiates guilt as she stares at them. She lets the house elves swarm their forms immediately to take care of them, better care that any of the adults had given them at any given time. Before she leaves she implores them that they must always find their way back to the house of Black, that they must _always survive._

It was when they arrived home in the middle of family dinner during yule that they had discovered the truth.

"Not a step closer and you'll regret it." She growled out glaring at the two teens that had appeared within their vicinity.

The male had gotten too close to her likely to a slumbering Castor and she did not bother trying to control the reaction her magic had to a perceived threat.

They looked like they could be in her family, the same dark hair and grey eyes but that couldn't be true as she had never seen them before. On top of that they were dressed quite strangely. They were dressed in light summer clothing that was completely in contrast with the winter weather around them, they were also barefooted with diadems made up of white heather, fir and ferns on their heads...utterly ridiculous.

The male chuckled and looked toward his female counterpart. "My my Deimos, does she remind me of you. Fangs bared and poised to attack."

"As she should be Phobos. She is a true daughter of Black protecting what is hers." The female, Deimos cooed at her like she was a cute little puppy. Alula was not one to take an insult lying on her back, but she didn't know these strangers, and now wasn't the time for her to be reckless without a plan.

"State who you are and why you're here." She said bluntly.

The male, Phobos chuckled. "Right, again so much like you Deimos, straight to business. Very well then. Little star we are here to help you. This here is a bag with enough supplies to last you until you make it back to the Black estate."

Alula blinked, not at all bothered when her magic reacted when the male tossing a bag her way. The bag exploded and the male gave a helpless cry.

"Alula?!" Castor said immediately, waking and standing to his feet. He narrowed his eyes on the male that was whimpering several feet away from them over the loss of his items after he had made sure that she was unharmed.

"W-why did you do that?" Phobos whined. "I told you I wanted to help you!"

He looked towards the woman who was staring into the sky as if to ask it for strength. "Deimos, she is too much like you, she's mean. She blew up my bag!"

Alula didn't bother to hide her suspicion. "Do you take me for some type of fool? You say you want to help me yet you don't say why or introduce yourself properly. You appear suddenly on my family's land with enough supplies to help my brother and I make it home and I'm just supposed to take that in good faith?"

"Yes!"

Alula scuffed. "Then it is you that is the fool."

"The women in this family are way too suspicious-" Deimos slapped her hand across Phobos's mouth before he could say another word.

"Stop, you are making this harder than what it needs to be." She told him before looking Alula straight in the eyes. "This is your third time, is it not...making this journey?"

Alula's face was blank as she stared at the woman who took her silence as a confirmation to continue speaking.

"It is simultaneously getting both harder and easier to return to the Black estate is it not? The first time was the hardest and easiest. Hard because you were abruptly abducted from the comfort of your home with little to no training on how to survive out here, easy because you so desperately wanted to escape this place where you could die at any given moment…"

The male spoke, a serious expression covering his features, his tone as cold as the woman's eyes."The second time that you were brought here the trip back home was a little longer, you were further away, and yet it still had nothing on the very first time on your own. After that first time you studied a bit more, learned a bit more. Knew what to expect a bit more, the forest is not as scary as the very first time. Still you rush back home, rush back to that familiar comfort, that is who you are nobleborn's of house Black...still you hurt, you hurt because you do not want to be separated from your family, ripped from you home at odd hours of the day and tossed into the wilderness."

"This is your third time and you find comfort in this dark forest." Deimos eyes flicked to where Castor had laid so peacefully moments before.

"This place that you were once so fearful of, once so eager to leave has slowly become your home hasn't it? Even now in this weather where just years before you would have been frightened of freezing or staring to death you are calm. You are aware that this forest will provide, whether that is food you are needing or shelter...anything else your magic takes care of. You have found that life out here is much simpler and easier. There are no rules or expectations, you merely just are, like the rivers that run and the trees that spread their branches skyward. Despite being much further away you could have easily returned home by now. You leave your families to question if you've finally been defeated. You enjoy imagining your mother's guilt and aunt's guilt at not questioning or stopping your father's decision, you even enjoy the idea of all your father's work of training going down the drain...the taste of true freedom is hard to give up is it not?"

"You won't admit it out loud, you were raised to suffer in silence. But here are the deepest darkest parts of the forest so far where even the bravest wizard fears to tread you can admit it. You take longer to return home because you do not want to. You do not wish to look upon smug pride filled faces at your victory of surviving yet another year on your own because they've chosen to abandon you here. They take bets I've bet you've noticed, on how long it will take you to return home...if you return home at all. It hurts because they are your family and they are not supposed to be the ones to treat you like a stray dog. It hurts more because you know that other children of your house are not being treated in such a manner...you won't ever be met with the sight of Arcturus abandoning precious Lucretia here and she is the same age as you, nor will he ever abandon his heir Orion. And I can tell you right now Pollux has no intention of making little Alphard go through this ordeal either."

Alula's eye twitched and her fist balled at Phobos' words and the familiar way he spoke of her father, cousins and patriarch, but she still refused to speak.

Alula did not hate often but when she did, she did so passionately. She hated the way their words had affected her. Their words proverbial arrows striking down on her conscience. What the hell did they know anyway?

"You speak of our family, familiarly." Castor said offhandedly as he stared at them, but his body was brimmed with tension. He was not left unaffected by their words either.

_Too familiarly_ went unspoken.

Phobos laughed. "Well I would hope so, considering they are- or is it were?... our family too."

"Technicalities aside, we are children of Black, just like you. Twins too if you could not tell." Deimos said her lips curled into a smirk.

Alula's eyes narrowed. "If what you say is the truth, why have we not heard of you before? Deimos and Phobos are not such names one is soon to forget."

"Why is that so hard for you to believe, it is not as if there is not another name that you two are received by..." Phobos said coyly and when he was met with narrowed eyes he waved his hands in the air. "You two are so stiff, since you do not recognize our middle names then what of our first, Marius and Pandora?"

Alula and Castors magic flared in indignation.

"You lie, Marius and Pandora Black died in 1927." Alula snapped her temper getting the better of her.

The two shared twin smirks. "Did they now?"

"And who told you that?" Deimos asked mockingly.

"Pollux I'm betting, the bloody wanker." Phobos muttered.

"No. I'll have you know; we do more than just accept the word of our sire as fact." Alula sneered as Castor spoke in a crisp tone.

"The family records also mark the death of Marius and Pandora Black, the family tapestry also confirms this. Marius and Pandora Black born 1916 died in 1927 at the ages of eleven. The magic that runs through the house of Black is sentient and tied to one's magical signature, it does not tell lies."

Alula nodded along with her brother's words. She tossed her hair over her shoulder haughtily before speaking again. "The only thing unclear of your death is exactly 'how' and 'why', though it is hinted that the 'why' is because the two of 'you' were squibs thus making learning the 'how' rather fatuous. It is understood in noble pureblood families, especially a dark one like ours, what is to be done with squibs."

Deimos gave a mocking chuckle. "So we're squibs now huh..."

"And are you of like mind about what should be done with squibs?" Phobos asked her with a blank expression.

"No we are not, and while it is unfortunate for a child to be born without magic they are still of our blood, just because a squib does not have magic does not mean that their child will be unable to use magic. Aunt Cassiopeia is a shrew and a spinster but she is also an Unspeakable, we've seen some of her work she's done in her labs about genetics and bloodlines to know that what we speak holds more truth than muggles finding a way to siphon our magic from us. To throw away such a future magical resource is precipitous and wasteful." Castor stated his opinion boldly.

"My brother is correct." She said softly but just as seriously. "There is something wrong internally that restricts a squib from using their magic, that does not mean that they do not have it at all. For that reason alone I believe squibs should neither be killed nor exiled from their family lines. It will be so much harder to track how the magic will reappear, because it will reappear and I would eat my left boot before I see my families magic appears in an unworthy line...like those freakish Lestrange's, those horrid looking Parkinson's and Carrow's or even worst those damned _Weasleys_!"

Phobos' face cracks a smile at her brutally honest words.

"And yet here we stand before you both." Deimos said, seemingly amused by them.

"If we are to even believe your pack of lies. Explain right now how what you are saying is even possible?" Alula demanded.

"Yes because you've obviously aged the appropriate amount of years you would have had you still been alive, the question is how." Castor said tone cooling over his sister's heated command.

"Simply put, we were once in the same situation that you find yourselves in, sacrificial offerings of our most grand and noble house." Phobos said.

"Wait what are you meaning by us being sacrificial offerings?" They both sputtered.

Phobos continued after smiling at them. "You see, twins are something of a rarity in the magical world. Some families like the Prewetts; it is a common occurrence. Every so often producing a set of identical twins. For the Black family producing twins is an omen under the gemini. Depending on the kind of twins that are born, usually identical or fraternal depends under the court they are subjected to, and who house Black should curry favor with."

"Court?" Castor said as Alula silently watched them.

"Yes, court." Deimos said. "For example; we are considered fraternal twins. While we share familiar black family traits we both individually look like our own selves, and thus being said we fall unto the minor court of spring. Had we been same sex we would have fallen under the minor court of autumn."

"You however are unlike us in a way we have not seen before." Phobos said his eyes glittering with wonder at them. "We've been told that you are considered polar-body Piscean twins."

Alula and caster shared a look each arching an eyebrow. They had never heard of such a term before.

Phobos continued. "You are fraternal twins that look identical in every way except for your sex. Truly amazing really. If I were to cut off Alula's lovely dark curls and dress her in pants or Castor a dress the two of you would look identical would you not?"

Alula and Castor exchanged keen looks. They could vividly see the other as themselves.

"That being said you two are more of a rarity than even identical and fraternal twins, you being as special as you are have the pleasure of falling under the grand imperial court of a thousand suns; the summer court." Deimos said before her brother could get carried away.

"What are these courts that you keep mentioning?" Alula asked with a frown. "And what is the significance?"

They blinked before Phobos spoke a frown making its way to his lips "While Pollux is a right prat surely he wouldn't- I mean he... You must know the stories of how our great and noble lines magic came to exist…right?"

"Or at least a watered down version of it?" Deimos asked wearily. "I mean even our father told us as much before he began leaving us out here…he did not leave us blind."

Phobos let out an abundance of artful swears that made even Alula flush as they returned his question with confused blank faces.

"Alright. Sit down and listen, this is going to take awhile." He said plopping himself onto the ground with Deimos joining him.

"I now understand why she wanted us to meet them." Phobos mutters too lowly for the children to hear and Deimos nods with understanding.

Castor and Alula too sit down...not necessarily because they trusted these strangers that claimed to be their family members but because they had nothing else better to do. And that strangers they may be, but they were correct. The taste of freedom was not one they were willing to give up so quickly...

They sat and they learned.

They learned their origins.

They learned the truth.

And in the end they learned that pretty soon they would be experiencing the truth.

"She will call for you both after your ninth birthday, do not try to resist." Deimos said as she and Phobos stood to their feet. She tossed them a bag that was similar to the one Phobos had given earlier.

Unsurprisingly Alula's magic did not perceive it as a threat.

"There are enough supplies to last for three days, but then you two should return to the Black estate." When they remained silent she spoke again. "I know it gets harder to transition back, but in less than a year you will not have to worry about that."

"Follow her and become more than what you are...Lucretia and Orion might be heir's of house Black via the blood of the first born son, but we are the heir's chosen by the house of Blacks original matriarch." Phobos said with pride.

"Will we see you again?" Castor asked and Alula looked on for their answer because she wanted to see them again too.

Phobos and Deimos shared conspiratorial smirks. "If she wishes."

They nodded in understanding.

"Do us a favor won't you darling niece and nephew and pass on a little message for us."

"What? Give them hell? We were going to do that anyway." Castor said with a chuckle.

Phobos grin was wide and cheshire like. "In a manner of speaking. Make sure to look like this, and speak in unison because it freaks Pollux out."

Deimos grinned just as widely and just as sharp. "Tell them us '_squibs_' send our love."

And with that Alula and Castor watched as said 'squibs' dissaparrated without a single sound.

The two stared at the spot for a few moments longer before Alula spoke. "How those two were branded as squibs of all things is fucking beyond me."

"I have truly grown frightened with your use of foul language." He sighed heavily. "No matter, just have it all out of your system by the time we reach the Black estate yeah? You'd give poor ole Creature a heart attack, you know how much he idolizes you."

She gave him a grin."I'm just aspiring to be like uncle Marius, he has such a wicked way with words."

Castor rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah, he's a real bloody poet."

When they returned precisely three days afterward they were still covered in grime and sweat but were no longer painted with an array of bruises and dirt. They allowed the house elves to lead them to their rooms, and to dress them in warm clothes not that it made them a difference...One stops being cold when forced to adapt to colder situations.

In Alula's case, she sits and allows Creature to cry tears of relief at her safe return... she pats him on his head giving him a small smile and even goes as far as to sooth him.

"Don't tell me Creature, that you ever doubted my return?" She muses as looks from her now cleaned appearance to that of the elf kneeling beside her.

"Never my lady, this lowly Creature could never doubt your power, this lowly Creature has faith in his young miss."

"That is good. As my elf I expect your faith in me to never waver. I have more than enough people that doubt my strength, don't you think?"

Creature nodded. "This lowly Creature believes in his young miss strength and power always."

She nodded and smiled wider at him, he trembled under the brilliance of her smile. "And I believe in you Creature."

"That house elf's smile is truly a frightful thing." Castor said with a shiver. "Honestly sister, that house elf loves you so much that I'm sure if you'd asked he'd even slip old man Arcturus an undetectable poison. You must tell me how you've completely ensnared his loyalty, Creature hates Lucretia and Orion because you don't like them. If old Man Arcturus or even father knew of the depth of that elf's devotion to you, they'd have him killed."

"All the more reason they'll never find out." She said evenly and her brother rolled his eyes.

"You know I would never...I'm just jealous. Anim would never go so far for me, she's so strict for a house elf." He said with a pout and this time she rolled her eyes as they exited her room making their way to the dinner table.

There they sit, their places at the family table, the adults watching them even as they chose to ignore them for each other.

Because in the end, others were not worth their time. Others would not have their backs. She would never trust another with her life the way she trusted Caster.

He caught her eyes on his face, they glittered and she knew he was undoubtedly reflecting the same emotions. They had each other, that's all that mattered, that's all they needed.

Still…

With voices devoid of all emotion, they speak in perfect harmony as they unleash pandamania at the dinner table with twin cheshire grins.

"Uncle Marius and Aunt Pandora the '_squibs_' send their love."

**...**

_"Don't be afraid, my little lambs."_

"Cas!" She calls out to him when her dress gets caught, in all honesty she doesn't even know why she bothers wearing them anymore. Completely unconventional for running through the forest.

"Cas…" She whispers but her voice carries throughout the trees. The forest always seems so much darker when she's alone, despite her years of knowing it, it manages to feel that much more dangerous when her brother is not beside her...

_"Come to me."_

"Castor!" She shrieks, throwing her fist towards his face when he appears before her suddenly.

"Bloody hell Alula!" He groans as he clutches his now bleeding nose.

She stares at him imperiously, he should have expected a good hit to the nose for appearing so suddenly. "Don't use such course language in front of a lady."

He shot her a look of his own. "Right, I'll remember your wise words when I actually see one."

Her dress was caught within the tree but she had enough movement to give him the bird.

He snickered as he helped her to be free. He held out his hand to her and she grasped it before they began taking off.

_"I will keep you safe from the devils hidden within the dark."_

They ran and ran and ran further still...and they noted as they continued to go deeper the trees began to shift and change. They began to mold themselves into arches each grander than the next until they stopped in front of an arch that was so grand that they could not see the top of it.

Made from trees larger than they'd ever thought possible and decorated with giant flowers; sunflowers, hydrangeas and yarrow, multi colored zinnia, forsythia and marigolds were some of the few that Alula knew shouldn't even be in season.

"Magic..." Castor breathed as he looked at the giant magical arch that had no ending in sight and seemed to hum with magical energy.

While they were greatly intrigued they didn't dare go beyond the archway, for all that lay within the arch was pure darkness.

"How strange..." Alula mumbled her hand reaching out to touch the petals of an eye catching yarrow. It such was a good plant to have considering it properties-

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you. Those are not your typical yarrow, their petals coated with a paralytic toxin that would kill you under 5 minutes." A female voice chimed, making Castor swipe her hand and keep it within his own as they turned towards the female voice.

Alula felt her breath catch. She was undoubtedly the most beautiful being she had ever seen.

_"Come close to me little lambs, let me cloak you in my darkness. I shall protect you from all but one-"_

Her eyes were the shade of their world's most unforgivable curse; her lips having the resemblance of shades of blood. She was barefoot, though the vines the wrapped around her bare legs and feet gave the resemblance of sandals so perhaps they offered her some comfort despite the chilling weather around them, her shoulders were bare but her arms were covered and she seemed to wear a dress made from thousands of freshly spun webs that gave no illusions to her curvaceous figure as it stopped a bit lower than mid thigh, morning dew drops resembled diamonds as the caught light. flowers were filling in her hair. Her crown made of eye catching scarlet sage, hydrangeas, flax, and senbon shaped thorns. Those same components also made up a long flowing train behind her with the addition of red zinnia, tiger lilies, and lantana.

"Hello there foundlings." The woman was glowing, literally. Her terra-cotta skinned glistened like it had been dipped in honey. Her eyes glittered with happiness and youth and warmth.

"Hello~." She said leering at the beautiful female in front of her, her voice huskier than she intended but she couldn't find it in her to give a single care. She immediately ignored the begging look her brother gave to the sky, probably questioning what he could have possibly done to deserve an older sibling such as herself, Castor was dramatic like that...

The female's lips curve into a rather wicked smile that has the ability to make Alula's young heart beat as fast as a hummingbird's wings.

"My name is Castor, my sister Alula." Castor said and avada toned eyes flickered towards him.

"I know who you are little Black star, the question is do you know of me?" She didn't give them time to speak. "I am the mother of young Serotinal and Vernal. I and the counterpart and consort of Hiemal. I am Aestival but you might know of me and mine by different names. I've drawn you to me because you have been found to be wards born to the imperial court of a thousand suns, congratulations on this success."

She seemed to move and then suddenly she was no longer in front of them but behind them and much closer to the arch. "Come with me now while the sun continues to reign, there is much to do and much you will learn from our realm."

"Wait," Castor said, gripping her hand as she began following after the woman beyond the gates and into the dark. She looked at Castor but didn't speak.

"So, we're just to leave...just like that..." Aestival raises an eyebrow and Castor flushes under her gaze. "I mean, for how long will we be away from home?"

"Time is merely an illusion that does not hold the same meaning to us that it may to you." She spoke amusement in her tone.

"So then we are to what? Stay with you, indefinitely because time isn't a factor that is considered in your realm?"

She cocked her head to the side, staring at him like he was a very rare and interesting animal. "Is there something that binds you to this plane of existence? Is your consort not enough for you to be content?"

"Consort?" Castor said with a frown glancing towards his sister before flushing when he fully understood what she was getting at. "Alula isn't my consort, she is my sister."

Aestival continued to stare at him with that same intrigued expression, her eyes rolling over him and her respectively before returning back to him before flickering behind and above.

Her eyes seemingly less bright, happy and cheerful as she takes note of what Alula learns was the sky. Alula tears her gaze from her finding it hard to look upon her now because her avada gaze burns, like acid to flesh. "We must leave quickly, we can speak more of your concerns when we arrive. The moon has slain the sun and stretches his influence further throughout the sky. If you wish to be brought before the presence of Hiemal instead of myself, we may stay..."

_"Let me have a taste, for have I not earned you?_

_Your innocence calls to be defiled and with all others slain there is nowhere left for you to run..."_

And while Alula could tell Castor was displeased with just up and leaving, she was even more displeased with the thought of being in the presence of Hiemal. Because Aestival was by all appearances, all things good, light and very much alive, her counterpart had to even her out in every way. Hiemal was all things bad, dark and dead.

"Castor, we may be children of Black, but I do not ever wish to be before Hiemal." She said her tone held a healthy dose of fear. Her brother caved to her easily and they both missed the dark satisfaction that flashed through Aestival's eyes before they took on their sun shiny glow as they willingly followed her into the dark...

Alula years later would look back to this day and think that perhaps she had spoken too soon. Being in the presence of Hiemal would have proven to be the lesser of the two evils.

_"To the victor goes the spoils..."_

* * *

**EDITED: 11.14.2020**

**OC's**

**Pandora Deimos Black**

Younger twin of Marius Black

Siblings: Pollux, Cassiopeia, Dorea

Blasted off the family tree for being a '**_squib_**'

**Castor Black**

Younger twin of Alula

Son of Pollux

**Oc x Canon charters**

**Marius Phobos Black**

Elder Twin to Pandora

Siblings: Pollux, Cassiopeia, Dorea

Blasted off the family tree for being a '**_squib_**'

**Alula Black**

Elder Twin to Castor

Daughter of Pollux

Comments?

Thanks for the follows and favorites, you guys rock~

* * *

**Fern**

Symbolize: Magic, Fascination, Confidence and Shelter

**Fir**

Symbolize: Time

**Heather** [White]

Symbolize: Protection, Wishes Will Come True

**Zinnia** [Red]

Symbolize: Constancy

**Flax**

Symbolize: Fate

**Forsythia**

Symbolize: Anticipation

**Hydrangea**

Symbolize: Frigidtity; Heartlessness

**Sunflowers**

Symbolize: Loyalty; Wishes

**Marigolds**

Symbolize: Comforts the heart

**Yarrow**

Symbolize: Health; Healing

**Salvia **(Scarlet Sage)

Symbolize (For the sake of this fic): Duplicty

**Tiger Lilies** (Fire Lilies)

Symbolize: Confidence, Pride and Wealth,

**Lantana**

Symbolize: Severity and Rigour


	4. 03 - Bigger Than Us I

**Enjoy, hope ya'll are stayin safe~**

* * *

_This is a ruthless world and one must be ruthless to cope with it._

* * *

_One secret, multiple casualties..._

* * *

There is nothing more that Euphemia Potter nee Rowle wants more than to be a mother.

She, only daughter of her father Damocles Rowle- _and may his soul rot in the realm of Lady Hel,_ dreams of wrapping that child in an inescapable cocoon of her love.

The love her father- _and may Garmr find a great feast upon his wretched bones_, had denied her as well as his second cousin Sigrún Rowle, the woman that she also called mother.

"_Lay down your flaming sword little valkyrie…_" Euphemia could still so clearly remember the soft, so very soft but stern spoken words of her mother when her father decided to go round to bend. The man had even gone so far as to strike her mother's fair skin...

She could remember being so possessed by Surtr's will that the flames that were so uncommon in their jaded family, danced at her fingertips. "_But to fight is our way. We fight, that is how we win, that is how we die._"

_He'll not have another finger to lay upon you..._went unsaid.

Her mother however was also born fire, the dreki, she had been dubbed in her youth, for when her ire and magic were directed upon you had a unique ability of making her adversaries feel as if they were being burned alive.

And even as her fair skin began to change colors, her voice remained strong and her eyes flecked with heated steel. Euphemia resisted the urge to cower before the woman...but just barely.

Her mother did not ask, she commanded. "_True Queens do not cower before Kings, still you're a bit young yet to raise his battle a whole war. Little princess, be at peace. I need of nothing but my magic and will to overcome this particular battle._"

_Stay out of my way..._were the words lying underneath.

She could remember the woman's rose golden hair with setting sun highlight, the same hair that she had inherited and the twinkling emerald green eyes a rarity in their family, that she had not had the pleasure of inheriting, glimmering as snow crested her hair like a halo as she died.

Euphemia while loving her mother and praying that her mother continued to live well in valhalla, could not help the small part of her that resented the woman for leaving her with that accursed man.

"_Why?_" She had remembered asking. It was a secret that her mother took to her grave as well as how her father had managed to find himself in the seat of Minister of Magic.

The list of her mother's sins, it left him no choice but to do away with her in silence not that he seemed hung up about it…

She would die and he would get away with it and more.

Why? Euphemia could not understand it.

Why would she go so far for this man she didn't love, marital duties be damned...What would be the reason for her mother to forfeit her life?

"_You are free to do as you wish- to marry who you wish, your father can neither stop you from living how you wish nor can he never burn you, after all one cannot burn away what has always been aflame._" Her mother had told her having the gall to look so peaceful even as Euphemia's world was crashing down around her. "_Listen my child you are blood of my blood, and all I wish is your happiness. Hold to your happiness tightly and never let it go._"

Her mother never told her why, instead dying with a smile on her lips...surprisingly she learned a semblance of the truth from her father.

"_Ah it's always nice to see a young married couple, this is how the young bonded in my younger days~_" He said coyly even as he coughed up blood.

"_Father, it is best that you speak quickly and honestly because while the patience I inherited from you quickly runs low...my beloved lives to play the long game and doesn't mind the continuation of 'truth extraction' while I retire to my old bedroom for the night._"

_Hazel eyes glinted behind round glasses. Fleamont flashed him a smile that was all teeth. "Lord Rowle, Mia has regaled you of my expertise in potions has she not?" He pulled a small purple vial from his robes. "Perhaps you would like to spend the rest of your existence in a pain greater than that of the cruciatus curse?"_

_Lord Damocles Rowle merely grinned in pride at his son in law before staring at his daughter. "I am glad daughter, you have found someone whose demons are able to dance with your own…never have you resembled Sigrún than you have right now..."_

_She cursed him without hesitation for having the audacity for using her mother's name._

Unsurprisingly it took the use of several strategically placed diffindos and controlled reductos to his joints- with her beloved Monty being there to patch him back up, to loosen his tongue. Her father lived true to his Scandinavian heritage to his very last breath.

_"Ah a mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no laws no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path. She made a vow that she would carry my sins to her grave if I freed you from yours..." He gave her one last mocking smile. "It was not a gift I was going to refuse, that and I've never had use for a daughter that was made of more fire than ice…"_

She cried that night they returned to the unplottable Potter estate, she had felt sickened by her own feelings satisfaction for the pride and approval glowing her her father's pale azure eyes- the eyes she'd inherited when she cast forth a silent fiendfyre, a monstrous wolf that burned him and one of the towers of Rowle to the ground…

She had held tightly to her happiness when she had found Monty, she would sooner kill him before she would let him walk away...but then again he was much of the same mind, and now...now she wanted her child, a child to have and to hold. To come to full circle and top off their little family.

Gender was of no consequence to her but having a son would combine well with her husband's desires of having a heir to continue the Potter line, it was a patriarchal line after all.

She wants, craves and desires so desperately to be able to know a mother's love.

She blames her husband as he does hers as years continue to pass, her belly never once swelling with the life she so desperately craves.

Alas after many secret meetings to a medi-witch they both trusted, they finally understood it was neither and more along the lines that none other than Magic herself had deemed them both to suffer being barren.

And this truth, neither could bear to stand.

Surely Mother magic would not be so cruel as to deny them the one thing that they both wanted more than life itself? Surely not when all they wanted was to love and mold what was surely to be their beautiful and brilliant bundle of joy?

No, this is a truth that they cannot accept, will not accept.

Excluding what they would easily blame on the exuberance of youth and war...the measures they are willing to take...the lines that they are unafraid to blur...well...she finds that it is a wonder that people speak of the Potter family standing with the light, because the wonderfully terrible things she does with Monty in the dark would surely have them thrown in Azkaban- her father's favorite toy prison for the rest of their days…

They were reaching their wits end and they were running out of options short of kidnapping a muggleborn and making them proper, via blood adoption…

The idea however, was discarded as quickly as it was brought up. Neither her nor Monty felt particularly in the mood with trying to track down a muggleborn family to stake out and assess their child to see if they would be a good match for them. Then of course there was actually taking the child and doing away with the muggle family, as well as doing the blood adoption ritual and it would only work if the kid was magically strong enough to survive the overriding of their own magics…muggleborns were notoriously weak after all, and neither felt the need to waste their time

Overall, the process itself took too much time and was far too tedious for people of their social standing even if they were now at the point of willing to grasp at a spiders thread further tangling themselves in its web...

She remembered the day the spider revealed itself to them.

Their fate finally taking a turn in their favor...

**...**

Dark fertility potions and poisons were to be made for the protection of their family and its future additions.

Monty's younger brother Charlus had fancied himself a daughter of Black.

Charlus was a talented boy with the infamous Potter hair and hazel eyes, though his were flecked with emeralds. Charlus shared many traits with his older brother, the incessant need to pull pranks on just about everyone and fanboying about quidditch. Where they seemed to differ were where their academic interest lied. Fleamont was a potioneer while Charlus despite his exuberant nature was a master of transfiguration.

Dorea Black, also happened to be a master of transfiguration. It was apparently love the first time the girl not only reversed his own prank against him but made it twice as humiliating for the victim. She was unsure exactly what the girl had done to Charlus, the poor lad was too embarrassed to tell her, but it had Fleamont in tears for weeks.

Dorea was a lovely little thing. Well born, well mannered and did not flinch when Euphemia released a wicked bout of fiendfyre onto a man that accosted her when they took a trip to her home country. No, instead the girl dogged after her demanding to be taught that type of control. Euphemia didn't mind, she'd always wanted a little sister.

Dorea's eyes glittering with glee when Euphemia had handed her a ring that double served as a container for poison with a smile even as Charlus and Monty laughed about how all Potter men seemed dangerously obsessed with lovely but sadistic birds, who's serrated daggers for tongues and murderous tendencies seem to only grow with each new generation of Potters to fall for them...

Euphemia truly was astounded, by the fact that the Potters seemed to always find a way to not become known as a Dark family…especially with their inclination to fall madly for women who were obviously dark witches…

The two were wed soon after Dorea's graduation from Hogwarts, seeing as she was a year younger than Charlus. It was quite the occasion.

Arcturus was spoken to with the bare minimum considering his place as the patriarch. Pollux was a right wanker to all but his own wife, but that wasn't all that surprising considering all she heard about the ten inch pole he had shoved up his backside and his wife was pretty but completely daft to their ways of life.

Cassiopeia was the only one worth talking too. She and Fleamont got on like a house to fiendfyre considering they were both potioneers, but Euphemia in the end had to concede that it was the youngest generation of the Blacks that were of the most interest. Lucretia she had heard was quite good with daggers and Orion seemed eerily intelligent for his age but the most interesting of the younger generation was the Black family twins, the young Walburga and her brother Warren.

It seemed almost as if they were something of a taboo. Pollux didn't speak much of them, more concerned about his youngest Alphard. Arcturus didn't bring them up at all...the only ones to mention them were their mother who spoke of them in a disassociated manner, Cassiopeia who spoke of them with equal measures of wonder and caution and Dorea who bemoaned the fact that her adorable little niece and nephew were treated as if they had dragonpox.

The relationships within the house of Black were just as messy if not messier then any of the other ancient families.

She watched as the youngest heir to the Black family tracked his older female cousin, with a covetous look that truly didn't befit his young face, while his elder sister seemed to glare at the duo with reproach as Walburga showcased her knowledge of wandless magic to entertain a giggling Alphard.

Walburga ignored both of her cousins instead focusing on her younger brother. The eldest brother kissing her forehead while also staring at his future head of house with a dark unreadable look in his eyes.

She chose not to speak with the duo who seemed to be in a strange way completely disconnected from their family, even if she found the Black family dynamic rather intriguing. Oh they were dressed as all the other Blacks and were doted on just as much by the house elves but Euphemia could not quite place why her instincts screamed at her to tread carefully when catching their moon like gazes, but she was always sure to listen and stayed clear.

Charlus and Dorea were very much smitten with each other till the point that it actually made Euphemia's teeth ache, though there were still others that would not mind taking each of their places.

A year after they married Charlus found himself on the receiving end of an undetectable poison. The wizard was killed in secret as well as Charlus's fall hidden from all. It after all wouldn't do well for the Potter name to know that some no name wizard could hurt them.

She and Monty traveled to the Dark Peat in search of the flower he had heard whispers of growing. One of the world's rarest, and it was rumored to be there.

The blood comos... it was said to not only be a beautiful flower but one that has arcane healing properties.

Despite the rumors of it being grown on what the muggles dare not tread, as they deemed it sacred grounds, Fleamont wasn't willing to sacrifice his brother's life on some muggles belief and if there happened to be a creature there...well it would meet the business end of his wand. Fleamont needed the cure and he needed it yesterday.

Fleamont and Euphemia were seasoned fighters and had immediately pulled their wands casting silent spells at the newcomer who merely laughed dodging the spells with unnatural grace.

"You two are funny." Said the young girl, her avada colored eyes twinkling with mirth as she sat down on the smoking tree stump like they hadn't just tried to end her life while she was nursing a onyx haired babe that was swaddled in the leaves of what Fleamont was sure came from a monster sized fanged geraniums.

"What are you?" Because they were not so foolish to think that this seemingly harmless looking small young girl whose laughter resembled a bag of bells, avada toned eyes that twinkled with untold secrets, terra-cotta skin seemed to glow golden and hair that seemed not to care about the laws of gravity floating around her head lazily while resembling flickering flames under the summer midday sun was actually a human, despite the infant she was currently cooing at after it had been burped.

She paused in her baby speak to look at them, her lips curved into a smile but her eyes were mocking."What am I? I have many names in many tongues and no names all in one."

Before they could speak, she cut them off. "But more importantly there are whispers amongst the avifauna, gossipy things that they are, that a couple arrived days prior to pillage from these shadows plains..."

Fleamont and Euphemia share a side look.

"I say to them because I know how much they love to gossip 'No, no that can't be true at all because surely these humans know from whom they would be attempting to take...surely they would not merely take and, _take and, **take**_ and not give something of equal value in return…' "

The elder duo as one shifts subtly into a fighting position, but nothing is hidden from avada irises.

"They say 'Yes yes, come and see, go quickly lest they flee' and so here I am and low and behold, so are you." Her eyes cut into them sharper than any diffindo ever could. "Surely you do not mean to _**take**_ from _**ME**_ and not give me something of _**equal**_ value in return?"

"Not at all," Fleamont placates, spreading his trembling hands out. As the creature spoke the very pressure in the air had gotten heavier and Fleamont was proud that he hand wore long robes so that none would see how his legs buckled under it. "For we were to leave you with an offering of our gratitude."

He continues when she continues to stare at him with unblinking eyes. "You see, the herbs we have gathered will be used to protect our family from outsiders who would do them harm."

She cocks her head to the side and continues to watch him with predatory eyes as he explains how he would use her herbs.

"I see and you truly believe _my_ _personally_ grown flora will cure your wizard?...Your family must be important to you to take such a major risk..." She looks away from him and the pressure dissipates. He sways before catching himself and he releases a breath he was unaware that he was holding. Euphemia is doing the same.

"He is my younger brother. He hasn't even truly settled down, hasn't even thought of having a child...I cannot allow him to die like this..." Fleamont said determination clear in his tone.

"Hmm, yes, c_hildren_ are rather important aren't they…" Her eyes caress the face of the giggling babe before looking upon them. "So then, where is my offering that is of equal value to the life of you family member?"

Fleamont tenses when Euphemia speaks from frayed nerves. "What is it that we can give, that would appease you?"

He grabs her wrist, squeezing it hard, she frowns at him as he looks at her with hard eyes before turning back to the girl. Euphemia quickly realizes her mistake.

The creature's smile then is something of a nightmare. Eyes that glow with greed, Euphemia, fears what the creature will ask of them.

Two words are demanded from sly lips. "_**Your word.**_"

She blinks, confusion etched upon her face.

"Humans often find themselves involved in that which they do not belong. You two seem smarter than others of your brood. For that I am feeling lenient. I will not ask for blood, or your heir, I seek only your oath embedded with magic, that you will never intrude on my affairs with your breathern."

The two Potter's share a look because surely it could not be that easy. No, the creatures words were much too obscure, how would they know when they were meddling in the creatures business anyway? No, something didn't seem right at all.

The creature grins. "You have doubts about my honesty? Tis cannot stand, all I want is an oath that you will not meddle in my affairs, if you cannot give me such a simple thing-" The herbs that had been safely tucked away in Fleamont's bag materialized in her hand. "The Potter line will end with you, Fleamont Potter."

After a moment of contemplation, Fleamont opened his mouth and spoke the words that would forever change their life.

* * *

**EDITED: 11.15.2020**

**OC's**

**Sigrún Rowle**

Second cousin and wife to one Lord Damocles Rowle

Mother of one Euphemia Rowle

Strawberry blonde with emerald green eyes

**Oc x Canon characters**

**Lord Damocles Rowle**

Patriarch of the ancient and noble house of Rowle that originated from Scandinavia

Long blonde with pale azure eyes

Was the Minster of magic and is the creator of Azkaban prison -canon

**Euphemia Potter nee Rowle**

Only daughter of Damocles and Sigrún Rowle

Strawberry blonde with pale azure eyes

Married to Fleamont Potter - canon

**Fleamont** **Potter**

Potion Master- canon

Comments?

Thanks for the follows and favorites, you guys rock~


End file.
